Overview
The red brocket is the smallest North American deer, notably smaller than the lighter-colored gray-brown brocket. It has a stout body with an arched back, slender legs, a short tail, ears of moderate size, and an elongated face. The coloration varies from reddish-brown to dark brown, but from mid-back to tail it is usually reddish . White areas include underside of jaw, throat, breast, groin area, a narrow stripe on back of front legs, inside of rear thighs, and underside and tip of tail. The ears are small, haired on the back, and dark-almost black-in color. The hairs on nape of neck are reversed. Fawns are spotted for the first several months. The skull is shorter than in the gray-brown brocket, especially that part of the skull behind the antlers, which is much shorter. Typically, the antlers are short, simple spikes of 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 inches (64-114 mm), occasionally longer, that grow upward from a short, hairy pedicel at a slight forward angle to the line of the face. However, in an occasional specimen one or both antlers will have a very small brow tine; such tines are always non-typical in brocket deer. Antlers are grown and shed at irregular times, and may be retained for periods longer than one year.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Cervidae
- Genus
- Mazama
Habitat
Humid tropical forest. Distribution- Mexico: Yucatán Peninsula, Chiapas, eastern Oaxaca, and the Gulf Coast north to southern Tamaulipas. Central America: Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Also found in South America from Colombia southward to the northeastern edge of Argentina. Has the widest distribution of any species of Brocket Deer.
Diet
Diet includes fruit, leaves and fungi. Reported to feed on over 60 plant species in Suriname.
Behavior
Solitary and secretive. Relatively sedentary with a small home range. Births occur August-October in northeastern Argentina, while in Guyana they are reported throughout the year. Usually there is a single fawn, occasionally twins. A good swimmer.
Hunting
A very difficult and challenging game animal. Hunted intensively by locals for its tender, delicious meat, yet continues to thrive in areas where whitetail deer have been completely exterminated.
Conservation Status
Listed as Data Deficient by IUCN. This species is considered to be Data Deficient in light of high taxonomic uncertainty related to the wide karyotypic and morphological variability within the Red Brocket Deer, which may constitute a cryptic-species complex. Until the systematics of this taxa are better understood it is impossible to evaluate it against the categories and criteria of the IUCN Red List. Until we can define distribution and population size we cannot estimate reduction. In addition we have no evidence that this species will persist outside of forested areas. Thus some populations (which may be species or subspecies) are threatened while others are not, and until we understand the taxonomy we do not have enough information to evaluate it against threats. (IUCN)